Photek Limited is a specialist manufacturer and global supplier of vacuum-based tubes and camera systems for photon detection. Photek manufacture image intensifiers, solar-blind detectors,

photomultiplier A photomultiplier is a device that converts incident photons into an electrical signal. Kinds of photomultiplier include: * Photomultiplier tube, a vacuum tube converting incident photons into an electric signal. Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs for sh ...

s, streak tubes and a range of associated electronics and camera systems. The company was founded in 1991 by Jon Howorth, Ralph Powell, Martin Ingle, Geoff Holt and Mehmet Madakbas. Photek's manufacturing specialty is fast-time-resolution devices using micro-channel plates. Fusion

plasma diagnostics Plasma diagnostics are a pool of methods, instruments, and experimental techniques used to measure properties of a plasma, such as plasma components' density, distribution function over energy (temperature), their spatial profiles and dynamics, whi ...

collaborations with

AWE Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous. On Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions awe is modeled as a combination of surprise and fear. One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., ...

have improved time resolution to less than 100ps for devices with micro-channel plate amplification. Detectors without an MCP, such as vacuum photo-diodes, can go as low as 55ps time resolution. Specialist devices, such as streak tubes, achieve an even better resolution of 1 picosecond or less but must sacrifice one spatial dimension for timing information. Photek LTD announces the formation of Photek USA LLC, a US sales and technical support center. Photek USA is building a US-based team to enter new markets and launch new products while supporting the long-standing relationship with Sydor Technologies (Sydor) and their strength in servicing the DOE NNSA Laboratories and Mission Support Services. Dublin, Ireland and St Leonards-on-Sea, United Kingdom, 15 February 2021 �
Tibidabo Scientific Industries Ltd
(“Tibidabo Scientific”), a global leader and supplier of highly differentiated technology for scientific research, aerospace, and industrial markets, announced the acquisition of Photek Limited.

Notable Projects

Space Missions

Photek detectors have been used in several space missions through collaborations with academic institutions such as the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

: * Photek is proud to have contributed to the Indian Space Agency (ISRO) project where they have shown a new Galaxy 9.3 billion light-years away. The Indian satellite AstroSat uses intensifiers developed and built at Photek in Hastings between 2010 and 2013. AstroSat was launched in 2015, and after a period of calibration started surveying regions of the sky of special scientific interests at different wavelengths deep into the UV spectral region (completely invisible from Earth) . * Image Intensifiers (CsI Far-UV, CsTe Near-UV, Alkali-Antimonide Visible) for the Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on

Astrosat ''Astrosat'' is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space telescope. It was launched on a PSLV-XL on 28 September 2015. With the success of this satellite, ISRO has proposed launching '' AstroSat-2'' as a successor for ''Astrosat''.

. ISRO - Launched September 28, 2016. * Scanning Image Spectrograph (CsI Far-UV image intensifier), part of the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Spectrographic Imager (SSUSI) on DMSP satellites since 2003.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

- Launched October 18, 2003; November 04, 2006; October 18, 2009; April 14, 2014. * UV Spectrograph (CsI Far-UV image intensifier), part of the Miniature Integrated Camera And Spectrometer (MICAS) on

Deep Space 1 ''Deep Space 1'' (DS1) was a NASA technology demonstration spacecraft which flew by an asteroid and a comet. It was part of the New Millennium Program, dedicated to testing advanced technologies. Launched on 24 October 1998, the ''Deep Space ...

- Launched October 24, 1998. * Scintillating Optical Fibre Trajectory (SOFT) Detector (Alkali-Antimonide Visible image intensifier), part of the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) on Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE).

- Launched August 25, 1997.

Particle Detectors

Photek are partners in the TORCH project at CERN to produce a new

detector A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

for the

LHCb The LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) experiment is one of eight particle physics detector experiments collecting data at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. LHCb is a specialized b-physics experiment, designed primarily to measure the paramet ...

upgrade. A concurrent collaboration with Arradiance, USA to develop protective vacuum coatings for electron multipliers has shown ALD-coated

s can cope with the much higher flux (5C.cm) required in particle detector applications.

Velocity Map Imaging

Photek were the first to commercialise Velocity Map Imaging (VMI) technology, offering VMI

ion optics An electrostatic lens is a device that assists in the transport of charged particles. For instance, it can guide electrons emitted from a sample to an electron analyzer, analogous to the way an optical lens assists in the transport of light in an op ...

and related instrumentation for physical chemistry and Laser science, laser physics research applications. VMI is a variation of Photofragment-ion imaging, charged-particle imaging that offers high velocity resolution, unlocking information on fundamental chemical structure or the characteristics of the intense, ultra-short laser-particle interaction. VMI was used as a ‘quantum microscope’ to take the first ever ‘photograph’ inside a hydrogen atom in 2013.

Unusual Applications

* Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy, Fluorescence imaging of David (Michelangelo), Michaelangelo's David, proves a non-destructive method for chemical testing of artwork surfaces. Using an image intensifier with 5ns time windows after a 1ns 337 nm laser exposure the fluorescence decay was measured over 100ns to obtain a map of the different surface chemicals to reveal ancient repairs and preservation methods. * Bio-photon emission can provide information about chemical processes in living organisms. The low intensity emissions can even be detected after attenuation through other tissue when using an image intensifier with sufficient gain. An image intensifier with 200 um spatial resolution and 10us time resolution was used to analyse the effects of hyperoxia by the bio-photon emission from oxidation reactions. This damage is of particular concern in the brain as it consumes 20% of the oxygen in the body and is composed largely of fatty tissues that are susceptible to this oxidative stress.

References

External links

Photek Ltd websiteLumintek camera systemVelocitas Velocity Map Imaging systemSydor Technologies
{{Authority control Electronics companies established in 1991 Electronics companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in England